Last quarter should have been a triumphant one for Sonos with the launch of its first headphones, but the company is facing the realities of its botched app redesign. CEO Patrick Spence explained in the company’s third-quarter earnings press release that Sonos lowered its 2024 financial guidance due to “issues” both customers and partners had with the software update. But the problems don’t stop at revenue. The company also said in its earnings call that it would delay two new product launches planned for the fourth quarter until the app is fixed.
“Thanks to Ace, our long-awaited entry into the headphone market, we saw year-over-year revenue growth in the third quarter and achieved results that slightly exceeded our expectations,” said Spence. “However, this was overshadowed by the issues our customers and partners experienced as a result of the launch of our new app, which in turn forced us to reduce our fiscal 2024 guidance. We have a clear plan of action to resolve the issues caused by our app as quickly as possible.”
Spence said the new products will be ready to ship in the fourth quarter, but right now “our top priority is to get everything right and make sure the next chapter is even better than the previous ones.” Of course, the company has not yet officially stated which two products exactly these are. Bloomberg reported Late last year, Sonos announced it was working on a set-top TV streaming box and a successor to its premium Arc soundbar. The CEO also admitted during the call that the total cost of fixing the app’s issues will cost the company $20 million to $30 million. However, Spence is confident that Sonos will bounce back, calling this just a “chapter” in the company’s history.
